This invention relates to a refrigerated beverage dispenser-mixer capable of stirring, mixing, cooling and dispensing beverages.
At the present time there exist several devices capable of dispensing beverages from a container that is cooled by some means. Thus, for instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,601,319 a device is disclosed wherein a large quantity of milk is stored in a container with a dispensing tube and valve. The device includes a refrigerated compartment wherein the milk container is placed. These devices, however, do not allow the dispensing of the liquid by removing the container from the refrigerated compartment and pouring from it. They also do not provide means for the agitation of the beverage while within the container.
The present invention, however, provides for easy removability of the beverage container while also incorporating a beverage agitator that is particularly adapted for reconstituting powdered beverages or frozen liquid concentrates with water.
The present invention includes a version in which the cooling of the beverage is performed by a self-contained thermoelectric refrigerating device. In this version the present invention may be placed on a counter top for easy access without the need of any additional refrigerating sources. Although U.S. Pat. No. 3,248,011 discloses a device utilizing a thermoelectric cooling device for the dispensing of a liquid, this invention neither utilizes a mixing device nor a removable container for dispensing of the liquid from without the refrigerating enclosure.
A second version of the present invention provides for the use of the device in conjunction with a standard refrigerator, whereby the device is mounted within a portion of the refrigerator door. In such a configuration the cooling air of the refrigerator is utilized to cool the beverage container. The beverage container is likewise removable from the refrigerator door and includes a fluid agitator for the mixing of reconstituted beverages.
The prior art devices for the dispensing of beverages from a standard refrigerator do not teach the removability of a beverage container nor the utilization of a fluid agitator. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,218 an apparatus is disclosed for the dispensing of liquids from a refrigerator. This invention, however, requires the dispensing to be performed at the refrigerator and does not allow the mixing or stirring of the beverage.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 3,476,295 discloses a beverage dispenser that is mounted within a refrigerator door, the beverage container is not easily removable from the door nor are agitating means included for mixing or stirring reconstituted beverages.
Therefore the present invention provides a novel apparatus for dispensing, mixing, refrigerating and storing household beverages. The invention eliminates the need for opening a refrigerator door every time a particular beverage is desired, thus eliminating a common waste of refrigerating energy while providing a convenient method of obtaining a desired beverage. By mixing the beverage within the present invention the need for transferring a beverage from a mixing device to a storing container is also eliminated. Moreover the present invention eliminates the need for a cover on the beverage container since when placed within the enclosure of the invention a mechanical seal is formed completely enclosing the contained beverage.